The Treasury trumpeted an “enlightened government that appreciates the financial settlement” in a written ministerial statement on Thursday, as MPs returned to their constituencies for the summer break. The statement, from Treasury chief secretary Simon Clarke, said the bill is now £42.5 billion, which “shows an increase over the original range”. When Britain left the EU in January 2020, the Office for Budget Responsibility put the figure at £32.9bn, meaning the cost of the financial settlement has soared by almost £10bn. Opposition parties say Boris Johnson’s ‘terrible deal’ cost taxpayers In the statement, the minister insisted that the figure should be compared with the “initial range” of £35-39 billion, which would result in a smaller but still significant increase of around £4 billion. But the timing of the Treasury statement at the start of the summer break means MPs will not be able to hold ministers to account for the rise in the Commons because it will not be sitting. The Treasury says the increase is “primarily due to the most recent valuation of the UK’s Article 142 liability for EU pensions”. The government has pledged to pay its share of EU official pensions as a condition to reach a withdrawal deal and avoid a no-deal Brexit. The increase in these payments is related to higher inflation, which has soared to record levels in recent months. The Treasury also said in the statement that it does not intend to release further estimates of the bill, even if it rises further – and that the actual cost will be written in fine print. “As all payments will be made from departmental accounts, HM Treasury does not intend to repeat or consolidate the financial reporting for TCA in future versions of the statement,” the minister said. “Nor do we intend to report annually the revised estimate of liabilities expected under the TCA because the actual cost will appear, in future years, in the department’s resource accounts.” Leila Moran, Foreign Affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Boris Johnson’s terrible deal, backed by Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, is costing the British taxpayer billions of pounds. This is the price of years of conservative chaos and neglect. “Combined with the government’s poor trade deals, they are leaving British farmers and businesses mired in red tape – unable to compete. “The Conservative government needs to make it clear how much more their bad deal will cost the country in the future.”
